main thing is that right now we are about 4 mil over the soft cap and about 10 under the hard cap. So we can't sign anyone other than with the mid-level and if the cap drops next season ( people still mad at NBA ) then we will have even less mobility.

Do you like the team we have? Because we can't do anything and even risk losing Monroe if the hard cap drops enough over the next 3 years.

I don't like the team we have and it's not going to get any better for another two years at least.

But, that 3-year contract to Stuckey is really interesting. Right now, here's when the contracts of the currently signed players' will be up (omitting the guys on their way out like Big Ben, low draft picks Singler & Macklin, and the training camp fodder.)

I'm looking at this, and the plan seems to be returning to relevance around 2014. By that time, Maxiell and Bynum will be gone, and Gordon, Stuckey and CV will become valuable trade assets. It seems to me that the next two seasons we'll be bad-to-mediocre developing Knight, Daye & Monroe and determining which complimentary pieces will fit with them. I would be very happy if this is what we observe going forward:

2011-12 season: losing season with glimmers of hope, draft well, use money freed up by Maxiell to sign a serviceable big man to a 2 year contract.
2012-13 season: play well, make the playoffs with a few good games. Use the money freed up from Bynum's departure to re-up Daye
2013-14 season: play well, trade CV & Gordon's expiring mid-season for a top quality center or PF, do some damage in the playoffs, re-up Monroe
2014-15 season: start contending for a title

I guess. I just checked some NBA salaries and 8 to 9 million dollars a year right now could get you: Devin Harris, Rajon Rondo, Lamar Odom, Jameer Nelson, Louis Scola, Jason Kidd, or Stephen Jackson.

Maybe it's just me, but I would rather watch SJax chuck up bad threes than watch Stuckey rack up offensive fouls.

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Oh man. And 4 of those guys have been part of championship teams as well. The implications could be huge depending on what happens with the salary cap in a few years, but I'm sure Joe will try his best to keep his key guys.

Side note:
The media keeps referring to Stuck as a PG. I don't know why everyone on the Pistons seem intent on billing him as that. I wish they'd stop trying to fit that square peg into that round hole and just admit he's a 2 and play him as such; I bet both he and the team would be better for it. He's a scorer, he's always going to look for his own shot first - not a bad thing, unless you're name's not AI and playing point, but even he had Eric Snow to run the team. Speaking of: the team is bad the way it is right now; we're more likely to end up in the lottery than in the playoffs (though in the weak eastern conference, who knows) and I'd rather see what Knight (whose court vision seems to have been underrated) can do rather than see the same old 'vets play more just 'cause' bit that was so popular in the contending years. No excuses now; the team is going nowhere fast without radical changes. Moose and hopefully BK are good starts; build on that instead of hanging on to ideas that should be long dead.
*Sorry for the rant. Needed to get that out of my system. Worrying about this was about to give me nightmares.

main thing is that right now we are about 4 mil over the soft cap and about 10 under the hard cap. So we can't sign anyone other than with the mid-level and if the cap drops next season ( people still mad at NBA ) then we will have even less mobility.

Do you like the team we have? Because we can't do anything and even risk losing Monroe if the hard cap drops enough over the next 3 years.

I'm pretty much off the Stuckey bandwagon but he'll get to the basket and we need that big time. The only problem I see is if he refuses to turn over PG duties to Knight down the line. If he can focus on scoring and making a good pass every once in a while instead of trying to run the offense he may turn the corner.

I don't like the team we have and it's not going to get any better for another two years at least.

But, that 3-year contract to Stuckey is really interesting. Right now, here's when the contracts of the currently signed players' will be up (omitting the guys on their way out like Big Ben, low draft picks Singler & Macklin, and the training camp fodder.)

I'm looking at this, and the plan seems to be returning to relevance around 2014. By that time, Maxiell and Bynum will be gone, and Gordon, Stuckey and CV will become valuable trade assets. It seems to me that the next two seasons we'll be bad-to-mediocre developing Knight, Daye & Monroe and determining which complimentary pieces will fit with them. I would be very happy if this is what we observe going forward:

2011-12 season: losing season with glimmers of hope, draft well, use money freed up by Maxiell to sign a serviceable big man to a 2 year contract.
2012-13 season: play well, make the playoffs with a few good games. Use the money freed up from Bynum's departure to re-up Daye
2013-14 season: play well, trade CV & Gordon's expiring mid-season for a top quality center or PF, do some damage in the playoffs, re-up Monroe
2014-15 season: start contending for a title

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I like your positive outlook and I wish we can live up to this plan. Shame that we have such a payroll challenge because we signed lowball players..........

This plan really needs Stuckey to be good...I mean Piston's Billups good............I just don't see that happenin.

Stuckey needs to start...but how good of a two guard is he going to be? I just don't see him making a difference on the floor, not worth 8-9 a year. 8-9 a year under the new agreement is as much as BG's under the old...and BG carried a team to 7 games against the Celtics, and won 6th Man of the Year.

I'm looking at this, and the plan seems to be returning to relevance around 2014. By that time, Maxiell and Bynum will be gone, and Gordon, Stuckey and CV will become valuable trade assets. It seems to me that the next two seasons we'll be bad-to-mediocre developing Knight, Daye & Monroe and determining which complimentary pieces will fit with them. I would be very happy if this is what we observe going forward:

2011-12 season: losing season with glimmers of hope, draft well, use money freed up by Maxiell to sign a serviceable big man to a 2 year contract.
2012-13 season: play well, make the playoffs with a few good games. Use the money freed up from Bynum's departure to re-up Daye
2013-14 season: play well, trade CV & Gordon's expiring mid-season for a top quality center or PF, do some damage in the playoffs, re-up Monroe
2014-15 season: start contending for a title

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If the Pistons did this, how many years in a row would it be that we were rooting for the Pistons to lose so they could secure a dominant big man? We're already a few years in.......

I think one of the problems with the Pistons contracts is that they're too low. Let's say the hypothetical top quality C or PF were available in 2014 (only 3 more years of this!). They'd have to trade 1/2 their team to acquire him and there will be no one left to play with him when he finally got here..

I think one of the problems with the Pistons contracts is that they're too low. Let's say the hypothetical top quality C or PF were available in 2014 (only 3 more years of this!). They'd have to trade 1/2 their team to acquire him and there will be no one left to play with him when he finally got here..

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You package any combination of Stuckey, Gordon and CV and you have $16-20M. That's max player range, especially in the era of the new CBA. And I doubt that the team would miss a beat if we dumped any combination of those guys. Nobody's gonna give up a good big (say Marc Gasol) for a package of Gordon and CV, so it would probably need to be multi-team trade including draft picks, but the salary dump is there to land a big name guy.